1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of rotary stencil printer, and more particularly to a device for mounting a leading end of a stencil to the printing drum of a rotary stencil printer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A full automatic rotary stencil printer having a basic construction such as shown in FIG. 1 is already known. In FIG. 1, 10 is a printing drum which is driven to rotate anti-clockwise as shown by an arrow by printing drum driving means not shown in the figure when a stencil is mounted to the printing drum, also when the printing is carried out, and also when the used stencil is exhausted from the printing drum.
A stencil leading end mounting device generally designated by 12 in which the present invention is incorporated is provided at a part of the printing drum 10. 14 is a roll of a band stencil sheet providing a stencil sheet supply source. The stencil sheet drawn out from the roll 14 is conducted through a guide passage 16, between a thermal head 18 and a platen roller 20, the thermal head 18 perforating the stencil sheet to form a stencil according to image data based upon an electric image data signal supplied thereto from image data processing means not shown in the figure, a cutter 22 in an open state, a movable passage 24 adapted to be positioned horizontal for receiving the leading end of the stencil and thereafter to break down at a break point 25 to be inclined as shown by phantom lines in the figure for giving an allowance in the feed of the stencil, and between stencil feed rollers 26 and 28 which feed the stencil so that the leading end thereof proceeds into the stencil leading end mounting device 12 under a controlled feed rate through a passage 30 and a movable stencil guide lip 32.
After the leading end of the stencil has been fastened by the stencil leading end mounting device 12, the succeeding part of the stencil perforated by a further operation of the thermal head 18 is first slackened for each predetermined length corresponding to a stroke of swing of the movable passage 24 about the break point 25, while the printing drum 10 is intermittently driven in synchronization therewith to take up each allowance provided by the slackened stencil so that the stencil is gradually mounted around the printing drum 10.
The stencil feed rollers 26 and 28 are put into idling, after the leading end of the stencil has been fastened by the stencil leading end mounting device 12. When a predetermined amount of stencil has been fed, the cutter 22 is operated to cut out a sheet of stencil from the continuous band stencil sheet.
When a sheet of perforated stencil has been mounted around the printing drum 10, the printer proceeds to a printing process, wherein print sheets are successively supplied from a print sheet supply tray not shown in the figure and are fed through between print sheet feed rollers 34 and 36 to a nipping region 40 between the printing drum 10 and a press roller 38.
A squeeze roller 42 is provided in the printing drum 10 to oppose the nipping region and to be driven anti-clockwise as shown by the arrow in the figure in synchronization with the rotation of the printing drum 10. A doctor rod 44 is provided adjacent the squeeze roller 42 to define a groove 46 to hold an ink deposit 52 formed by ink 50 supplied from an ink distributor 48.
An agitation rod 54 is provided in the groove 46 at a central position thereof to provide a core of the ink deposit 52, so that the ink deposit 52 forms a rotating mass of ink rotating clockwise around the agitation rod 54 when the squeeze roller 42 rotates anti-clockwise as viewed in the figure, with a part of the rotating mass of ink being successively drawn out therefrom in the form of an ink layer 56 carried on the squeeze roller 42 to be supplied to the inner circumferential surface of the printing drum 10, this ink being further passed through the perforations of the stencil mounted around the printing drum 10 and transferred onto the print sheet fed through the nipping region 40 to form a stencil print image on the print sheet.
The print sheet thus applied with the stencil printing tends to move along the outer circumferential surface of the printing drum 10 due the adhesiveness of the ink, but the print sheet is removed from the outer circumferential surface of the printing drum as peeled off therefrom by a print sheet removal claw 58 and is transferred by a belt conveyer type print sheet discharge means 60 toward a printed sheet receiving tray not shown in the figure.
When the stencil mounted around the printing drum 10 is to be exhausted, the stencil leading end mounting device 12 is operated in a manner described in detail hereinbelow, so that the leading end of the stencil is released from the clamping by stencil leading end mounting device 12 and is brought into a state freely placed thereon.
Then the printing drum 10 is rotated in the direction shown by the arrow for the exhausting of the stencil such that the leading end of the stencil is scooped up by a stencil removal claw 62 when it traverses the tip end of the claw and is then bitten into between belt conveyers 64 and 66 of a stencil exhausting means, each of which-is moving in the direction shown by arrows, thus the stencil being successively peeled off from the printing drum 10 as the printing drum 10 is further rotated, to be finally exhausted into a stencil exhaust box positioned on the left side of the belt conveyers 64 and 66 though not shown in the figure.
A belt conveyer 68 operates to guide the leading end of the stencil toward a nipping region between the belt conveyers 64 and 66 if the leading end of the stencil would divert away from the nipping region.
With respect to a rotary stencil printer having such a known basic construction, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,575,204 owned by the same assignee as the present application, there has been proposed an improved construction of the stencil leading end mounting device 12 such as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3a-3h. 
In these figures, the stencil leading end mounting device 12 comprises a base member 72 having a band surface 70 working as a stencil leading end supporting surface, the band surface extending along a portion of the cylindrical outer surface of the printing drum 10 along a generatrix of the printing drum in parallel with the central axis thereof and incorporating a magnet piece (desirably a rubber magnet piece) planted therein, and a clamp member 76 having a clamping surface 74 and movable between a closed position (the position shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3a) where the clamping surface is laid over the stencil leading end supporting surface 70 and an open position (the position shown in FIG. 3b) where the clamping surface is removed from the stencil leading end supporting surface 70.
The clamp member 76 is a plate element of a magnetic material having an elongated rectangular shape extending in parallel with the central axis of the printing drum, and is pivotably supported at longitudinally opposite end portions by a pair of bearing means 78 mounted to the base member 72, so as to be movable between the above-mentioned closed and open positions. The clamp member 76 is constantly magnetically attracted toward the closed position by the above-mentioned magnet piece. The clamp member 76 has a plurality of ribs 80 spaced along the upper surface of the plate element forming the principal portion of the clamp member. Further, the plate element forming the principal portion of the clamp member 76 includes a lever portion 82 at one longitudinal end thereof.
The stencil leading end mounting device 12 further comprises a snap-up member 88 which, in the shown construction, is formed of a rod element 84 and a pair of arm elements 86 firmly mounted at opposite ends of the rod element. The snap-up member is movable such that the part formed by the rod element 84 moves between a first position close to the inlet edge 90 of the stencil leading end supporting surface 70 (the position shown in FIG. 3a) and a second position close to the inlet edge 92 of the clamping surface 74 of the clamp member 76 positioned at the open position thereof (the position shown in FIG. 3e) in relation to supply/exhaust of the stencil.
The pair of arm elements 86 are pivotably supported by a pair of bearing means 94 mounted to the base member 72 so that the rod element 84 is movable between the first and second positions. The pair of arm elements 86 are each a plate element made of a magnetic material and are constantly magnetically attracted by the above-mentioned magnet piece just as the clamp member 76 is, such that when the rod element 84 is at the first position, the pair of arm elements 86 are seated on the stencil leading end supporting surface 70. One of the pair of arm elements 86 includes a lever portion 96 extending to the opposite side of the bearing means 94 relative to the rod element 84.
Thus the clamp member 76 is biased around the bearing means 78 toward the closed position by the magnetic attraction of the above-mentioned magnet piece, and when the clamp member 76 is at the closed position, the clamping surface 74 of the clamp member is pressed against the stencil leading end supporting surface 70 under a predetermined pressing force. The snap-up member 88 formed of the rod element 84 and the pair of the arm elements 86 is also biased about the bearing means 94 toward the first position by the magnetic attraction force of the magnet piece.
Further, there are provided means for pivoting the clamp member 76 biased to the closed position toward the open position against the biasing force of the magnet piece and means for pivoting the snap-up member 88 from the first position toward the second position against the biasing force of the magnet piece. These means are actuating means comprising a pulse, motor 98 having a shaft 100, first and second cams 102 and 104 supported by the shaft 100, first and second lever members 108 and 110 adapted be pivoted about a pivot shaft 106 by those cams, and tension coil springs 112 and 114 biasing those lever members about the pivot shaft 106.
The cam 102 has first cam portion 102a and a second cam portion 102b displaced from one another for 180xc2x0 around the central axis of the pulse motor shaft 100 to be opposite to one another while the cam 104 has a single cam portion 104a angularly shifted relative to the cam portions 102a and 102b as shown in FIG. 2. The pulse motor shaft 100 rotates clockwise when viewed in FIG. 2 from front and left side therein.
The stencil leading end mounting device 12 of the above-mentioned construction operates as follows:
First, at the starting of the operation of the stencil printer where no leading end of the stencil is yet mounted to the stencil leading end mounting device 12, the respective portions of the device are in the state depicted in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3a. In this connection, however, it is to be noted that in this kind of rotary stencil printer, except when a new machine is going to be first started, it is the general practice that, when the stencil printing by a sheet of stencil has been completed, the used stencil is left in the mounted condition until the next printing by the next sheet of stencil is started, to avoid the drying up of the ink contained in the circumferential wall of the printing drum while the stencil printer is at rest.
Therefore, generally, prior to starting of the printing operation by a new stencil, prior to the perforation of the new stencil or in parallel thereto, the process of exhausting the used stencil from the printing drum is carried out. Therefore, the condition shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3a as the starting condition is the condition where such a prior stencil exhausting process has been finished. In this state, neither of the cams 102 and 104 are pressing the lever members 108 and 110 downward, so that the lever members 108 and 110 are turned up around the pivot shaft 106 to the respective highest position by the action of the springs 112 and 114, so that the lever portion 82 of the clamp member 76 and the lever portion 96 of the snap-up member 88 are both released from the pressing action by the lever members 108 and 110, respectively, so that the clamp member 76 is at the closed position with the clamping surface 74 being laid over the stencil leading end supporting surface 70 of the base member 72, while the snap-up member 88 is at the first position with the rod element 84 being positioned close to the leading edge 90 of the stencil leading end supporting surface 70.
When there comes a time that the leading end of a stencil is to be mounted to the stencil leading end mounting device 12, the respective portions of the device take the state shown in FIG. 3b, so that the lever member 108 is turned around the pivot shaft 106 downward by the cam portion 102a of the cam 102 against the action of the spring 112, so that the tip end of the lever member 108 pushes the lever portion 82 of the clamp member 76 against the magnetic attraction force acting thereto from the magnet piece, so that the clamp member 76 is turned around the pair of bearings 78 as shown in FIG. 3b, such that the clamping surface 74 makes such a space against the stencil leading end supporting surface 70 of the base member 72 suitable for taking in the leading end 116 of the stencil approaching thereto from the right side in the figure.
When the pulse motor 98 turns its shaft 100 further, the respective portions of the device take the state shown in FIG. 3c, wherein the clamp member 76 is positioned at the closed position with the clamp member 76 laid over the stencil leading end supporting surface 70 of the base member 72. Therefore, the leading end 116 of the stencil having proceeded between the stencil leading end supporting surface 70 and the clamping surface 74 is clamped therebetween, and held in the clamped state under the magnetic attraction force of the magnet piece acting to the clamp member 76.
Thereafter, as already described with reference to FIG. 1, the printing drum 10 is rotated in the direction shown by the arrow, with a progress of the perforation of the stencil by the thermal head 18, so that the stencil is gradually intermittently mounted around the printing drum 10 starting from the leading end thereof mounted to the stencil leading end mounting device 12, until such a perforation/mounting transfer of the stencil reaches a predetermined length, and then the cutter 22 is operated to cut off a piece of stencil from the band sheet of stencil, thus finishing the mounting process of the stencil around the printing drum 10. Then, the printing process is carried out as described above.
After a required printing operation had been finished, and after the used stencil has been left as mounted around the printing drum, when the used stencil is to be removed from the printing drum 10 prior to the next printing by a new stencil, the pulse motor 98 is further rotated so that the cam portion 102b of the cam 102 pushes the lever member 108 downward so that the clamp member 76 is turned up from the closed position shown in FIG. 3c toward the open position against the magnetic attraction force of the magnet piece to take the state shown in FIG. 3d, whereby the leading end 116 of the stencil is released as shown in FIG. 3d from the prior condition clamped between the stencil leading end supporting surface 70 and the clamping surface 74, although the leading end of the stencil is still laid below the clamp member 76 so that it can not yet move beyond the clamp member toward the stencil exhausting means.
Then, the pulse motor 98 is further rotated so that the snap-up member 88 is moved from the first position close to the inlet edge 90 of the stencil leading end supporting surface 70 to the second position close to the inlet edge 92 of the clamping surface 74 of the clamp member 76 still maintained at the open position by the cam 102 as shown in FIG. 3e. By this action of the snap-up member 88, the leading end 116 of the stencil is brought to the state floated up from the stencil leading end supporting surface 70 as shown FIG. 3e. 
Then, the pulse motor 98 is further rotated so that the lever member 108 is lifted as released from the pressing action of the cam 102, and in accordance therewith the clamp member 76 is returned to the closed position as shown in FIG. 3f, while the snap-up member 88 is still maintained at the second position. Therefore, the leading end 116 of the stencil moves from the lower side of the clamping surface 74 to the other side of the clamp member 76 (upper side in the figure) by traversing the inlet edge 92 of the clamp member 74 as shown in FIG. 3f. 
Thereafter, the pulse motor 98 further rotates so far that the clamp member 76 and the snap-up member 88 are returned to the respective closed and first positions as shown in FIG. 3g, wherein, however, the leading end 116 of the stencil is released on the upper side of the clamp member 76.
When the printing drum is further rotated, the tip end of the stencil removal claw 62 gets into under the leading end 116 of the stencil to scoop it up as shown in FIG. 3h, and then, in the manner described with reference to FIG. 1, the stencil is bitten into between the belt conveyers 64 and 66 of the stencil exhausting means starting from the leading end thereof, so that the stencil is gradually removed from the circumferential surface of the printing drum according to the rotation thereof, and the removed stencil is finally transferred into the stencil exhaust box provided on the left side in the figure but not shown in the figure.
As well known in the art, the magnetic attraction force is reversely proportional to the square of the inter distance. Therefore, in the above-mentioned prior art construction of the stencil leading end mounting device, when the clamp member 76 is opened from the closed position laid over the stencil leading end supporting surface 70 toward the open position, the clamp member laid over the stencil leading end supporting surface 70 incorporating the magnet piece is first attracted by the magnetic attraction force at such a relatively high intensity as needed to definitely fasten the stencil leading end to the stencil leading end supporting surface 70 available by the contact approach of the clamp member 76 to the magnet piece, and therefore, the pressing force applied by the first lever member 108 to the lever portion 82 of the clamp member 76 needs to be substantially high at the beginning to overcome such a high magnetic attraction force applied thereto by the magnet piece, but such a high resistance decreases quite rapidly as the clamp member departs from the stencil leading end supporting surface, or the magnet piece.
Therefore, under such a circumstance, a substantial elastic energy is stored in the clamp member and the related clamp member driving construction in the initial stage of opening the clamp member from the closed position until the moment at which the clamp surface 74 of the clamp member 76 detaches from the stencil leading end supporting surface 70, such a stored elastic energy being instantly released after the detachment of the clamp surface 74 from the stencil leading end supporting surface 70 as the magnetic attraction force rapidly lowers according to the inverse proportion of the square of the distance of removal, thereby causing vibrations of the clamp member and the related clamp member driving construction by the released elastic force being overlapped to the driving force by the lever member 108.
In view of the above-mentioned problem, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved stencil leading end mounting device of a rotary stencil printer in which the above-mentioned problem is effectively avoided.
According to the present invention, the above-mentioned object is accomplished by a stencil leading end mounting device of a printing drum of a rotary stencil printer, comprising:
a base member having a stencil leading end supporting surface incorporating a magnet therein, the stencil leading end mounting surface extending along a generatrix of the printing drum for receiving thereon a leading end of a stencil to be mounted around the printing drum;
a clamp member having a clamp portion formed with a stencil clamping surface and a drive portion opposite to the clamp portion, the clamp member being supported on the base member to be tiltable relative to the stencil leading end supporting surface between a closed position in which the clamp portion is laid over the stencil supporting surface so as to clamp the stencil leading end between the stencil supporting surface and the stencil clamping surface under a magnetic attraction of the clamp portion by the magnet toward the stencil supporting surface and an open position in which the stencil clamping surface is inclined apart relative to the stencil leading end supporting surface so as to expose an inter space therebetween for entrance thereto and removal therefrom of the stencil leading end;
pivot means for providing a linear pivot axis between the base member and the clamp member for the clamp member to tilt thereabout between the closed position and the open position with the linear pivot axis being positioned between the clamp portion and the drive portion of the clamp member; and
actuation means for selectively biasing the drive portion of the clamp member for tilting the clamp member from the closed position to the open position,
wherein the pivot means provide the linear pivot axis so as to move relative to the clamp member from a side of the clamp portion to a side of the drive portion according to a progress of tilting of the clamp member away from the closed position toward the open position.
According to the above-mentioned construction of the stencil leading end mounting device, when the clamp member is opened from the closed position toward the open position, at the initial stage of the clamp member being just removed from the stencil leading end supporting surface by the drive portion thereof being biased by the actuation means, since the linear pivot axis is positioned at the utmost clamp portion side while remotest from the drive portion side to provide a largest force magnifying lever ratio for the actuation means to tilt the clamp member by biasing the drive portion, the clamp member is softly driven by a relatively strong and slowly acting force, and when the clamp member is moved more from the closed position toward the open position, the linear pivot axis shifts more from the clamp portion side toward the drive portion side of the clamp member, so that the force magnifying lever ratio is gradually decreased so as to meet with the decrease of need for the driving, while conversely increasing a displacement magnifying lever ratio for more widely opening the inter space between the stencil leading end supporting surface and the stencil clamping surface of the clamp member relative to the biasing amount of the drive portion by the actuation means.
By such an arrangement, the clamp member is softly detached from the stencil leading end supporting surface as driven by a relatively strong and slowly acting force in the beginning stage of opening from the closed position toward the open position, then being driven by a rapidly decreasing biasing drive force to balance with the released elastic energy, while in the final stage of the opening the clamp member is relatively widely opened for a better convenience of an infallible clamping of the stencil leading end.
In the above-mentioned stencil leading end mounting device the clamp member may have either a pair of bearing surfaces or a pair of convex cams along opposite end portions of the stencil clamping surface thereof corresponding to opposite axial ends of the printing drum, while the base member comprises either a pair of convex cams supporting the pair of bearing surfaces or a pair of bearing surfaces supporting the pair of convex cam surfaces, such that each cam surface of the pair of convex cams contacts with each of the pair of bearing surfaces at a point which moves along the cam surface from the clamp portion side to the drive portion side according to the progress of tilting of the clamp member away from the closed position.
In such a construction, the pivot means may further comprise means for restricting a slipping of the bearing surface relative to the cam surface therealong.
Such slip restriction means may comprise a pair of guide grooves provided on either side of the base member and the clamp member adjacent the pair of cams to extend substantially perpendicularly relative to a direction of extension of the cam surface and a pair of projections provided on the other side of the base member and the clamp member so as to engage in the guide grooves.
In this case, the pair of guide grooves may each be arcuate to follow a contour of movement of each of the pins relative to each of the guide grooves due to a rolling of the clamp member on the cams.
Alternatively, the slip restriction means may comprise a plurality of projections formed along each of either the cam surfaces or the bearing surfaces, and a corresponding plurality of openings formed in each of wither the bearing surfaces of the clamp member or the cam surfaces so as to engage with the projections according to a rolling of the bearing surfaces on the cam surfaces.